Retail Automotive Summary – Jan. 2013

AutoTrader.com’s Juan Flores on How Trade-In Marketplace Has Thrived

For dealers marketing to savvy consumers in this era of transparency, trade-in value has increased in importance. For AutoTrader.com’s recently hired Juan Flores, Trade-In Marketplace director of operations, it’s a unique opportunity to bring together consumers and dealers – making the trade-in what consumers expect and what dealers prefer. AutoTrader.com’s Trade-In Marketplace generated its five […]

RVI Wraps Up 2012 Used Vehicle Pricing and Looks Ahead to 2013

RVI Market Update released its report on how used vehicle prices ended up in 2012. Seasonally adjusted on a two-to-five year old vehicle bases, prices rose by 1.8% month-over-month in December.

Used vehicle prices saw strong increases for the month compared to the year before – on a year-over-year basis, prices were up…

Compared to results from one year earlier, the three vehicle segments that saw the strongest price increases were…

Used vehicle supply is expected to increase throughout 2013, though the supply will remain at historically low levels, which means that…

Click here for details on the RVI Market Update for December, 2012, and forecasts of where the market is heading in 2013…

TrueCar’s 2012 Performance Scorecard Grades and Determining Factors

TrueCar recently released its 2012 Performance Scorecard grades for automakers based on pricing, sales, incentives, customer loyalty, market share and days in inventory. Here are a few highlights from the announcement…

The overall top manufacturers were Subaru, Toyota, and Jaguar Land Rover. Near the bottom of the list were…

With strong incentives and days in inventory ratings being important used car market factors, there were five automakers recognized…

Suzuki, Saab, and Volvo were brands receiving the lowest grades. As for five brands taking the highest grades…

Click here to read the rest of the coverage of these categories and their highest and lowest performers…

Total Used Vehicles Sold – 2002 to 2012

Used vehicles topped 40M units in 2012 for first time since 2007
Made for 4.5% gain over 2011’s 28.8M units
Franchised dealers had a great year – up more than 8% while independent dealers saw a more modest 2% gain